This invention relates to beverage container holders and more particularly, to a single-cup beverage container holder, a dual-cup beverage container holder, a three-cup beverage container holder and a four-cup beverage container holder which may be used individually or in combination with each other to facilitate carrying at least one and selectively, multiple beverage-filled containers by an individual using one hand. The respective beverage container holders are each characterized by a handle having one, two, three or four container cups which extend outwardly from the handle in selected spaced-apart configurations with respect to each other. The hollow handle is typically characterized by multiple longitudinal handle serrations which interlock with the handle serrations of one or more additional beverage container holders in handle-nesting configuration to facilitate non-rotatable nesting of the beverage container holders in either stored or functional configuration. The various spatial configurations of the container cups on the handles facilitates selective positioning of the container cups of multiple handle-nested beverage container holders, to enable an individual to carry a selected number of beverage containers using one hand. In another embodiment, a dual tray characterized by a pair of typically recessed, and/or planar tray surfaces extending from a common serrated handle can be used alone to carry a plate or plates of food, or in handle-nested combination with one or more of the beverage container holders for carrying both food and a selected number of drinks, using one hand.
At sporting events and gatherings and at fast food restaurants, when a person needs to carry several drinks, it is frequently very difficult to manage these drinks at one time, especially if there is food to be carried also. Many beverage trays have been designed to carry several drinks, but invariably, these require the use of both hands. Indeed, most of these prior art beverage carriers have one or more additional disadvantages.
Many of the prior art beverage container holders are flimsy, unwieldy and unstable. Some of the holders must be placed on a supporting surface before any of the beverage containers can be removed from the holder. Also, very few, if any, food and beverage container holders have been designed to hold multiple beverage containers and/or food items in one hand, leaving the other hand free for other activities. These prior art designs are difficult to hold without spilling the beverages, particularly with the arms extended or held high. Furthermore, many of the designs cannot be nested into one another for storage and none can be nested with drinks in place. Thus, there has been a long-felt need for an improved beverage container holder.
It is an object of this invention to provide at least one single-cup beverage container holder which includes a handle and a single container cup attached to the handle for carrying a glass, bottle, can or cup of beverage, wherein multiple single-cup beverage container holders can be nested at the handles thereof to facilitate carrying two, three, four or more beverages using one hand.
Another object of this invention is to provide a dual-cup beverage container holder which may be characterized by a pair of single-cup beverage container holders removably nested together at the hollow handles, each of which single-cup beverage container holders includes a container cup attached to a handle, or which dual-cup beverage container holder may be characterized by a pair of container cups attached to a common handle.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a three-cup beverage container holder which may be a composite of three single-cup beverage container holders nested at the hollow handles and having a total of three available beverage container-carrying container cups; two dual-cup beverage container holders nested at the handles and at one ol the container cups of each and having the same number and configuration of container cups available for carrying three glasses, bottles, cans, cups or other containers of beverage in one hand; or a dual-cup beverage container holder and a single-cup beverage container holder nested at the handles and having three beverage container-carrying container cups. Alternatively, the three-cup beverage container holder may be designed such that a single handle supports three extending container cups to facilitate the same carrying capacity, two of which three-cup beverage container holders can be handle-nested to form a six-cup beverage container holder having a total of six available container cups for receiving six beverage containers, respectively.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a four-cup beverage container holder which can, in a first embodiment, be characterized by four single-cup beverage container holders joined and nested at the hollow handles thereof, and having a total of four container cups extending radially from the nested handles for receiving four glasses, cans, bottles, cups or other containers of beverage, respectively. In another embodiment, a single-cup beverage container holder can be handle-nested with a three-cup beverage container holder to form a total of four of the container cups extending radially from the common nested handle. In still another embodiment, the four-cup beverage container holder can be characterized by two of the single-cup beverage container holders handle-nested with a dual-cup beverage container holder and forming four available container cups for receiving four beverage containers, respectively. In a still further embodiment the four-cup beverage container holder can be characterized by a pair of dual-cup beverage container holders nested at the handles thereof for carrying four beverage containers. In yet another embodiment, the four-cup beverage container holder is characterized by a single handle which supports four container cups extending radially from the handle for achieving the same purpose.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide single-cup, dual-cup, three-cup and four-cup beverage container holders, selected combinations of which may be used interchangeably with the individual beverage container holders to facilitate carrying a desired number of drinks with one hand, which selected combinations of the beverage container holders are achieved by nesting the beverage container holders at the hollow handles to facilitate the nested beverage container holders having a selected number of container cups extending from a common nested handle assembly which can be gripped with one hand, each of which container cups is suitably adapted for containing a glass, bottle, can, cup or other container of beverage.
Another object of this invention is to provide single-cup, dual-cup, three-cup and four-cup beverage container holders each characterized by a handle having one, two, three or four container cups, respectively, extending from the common handle for carrying a corresponding number of beverage containers, which handle is characterized by multiple longitudinal internal handle serrations which interlock with the handle serrations of one or more additional beverage container holders in handle-nesting configuration to facilitate non-rotatable nesting of the beverage container holders in selected stored or functional configurations. The various functional configurations of the container cups on the handles facilitates selective spatial arrangement of the container cups of multiple nested beverage container holders, to enable carrying of a selected number of beverage containers using one hand.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a dual tray characterized by a pair of typically recessed, and/or planar tray surfaces extending from a common serrated, hollow handle for receiving a plate or plates of food, which dual tray can be used either alone or in selected handle-nested combinations with one or more of the single-cup or dual-cup beverage container holders, to facilitate carrying food or both food and a selected number of drinks with one hand.
These and other objects of the invention are provided in single-cup, dual-cup, three-cup and four-cup beverage container holders which may be used individually or in selected combinations with each other to effect nesting of the handles of the respective hollow beverage container holders and forming of a radial array of a selected number of container cups which may he used to carry a corresponding number of beverage containers using one hand. Accordingly, two or more single-cup beverage container holders may be nested at the handles thereof to define two or more beverage container-receiving container cups having nested handles that may be carried in one hand. Similarly, two dual-cup beverage container holders may likewise be nested to form three or more beverage container-receiving container cups which may likewise be carried at the common nested handles. Likewise, one three-cup beverage container holder can be utilized to carry three beverage containers, or four or more beverage containers in corresponding container cups when fitted in handle-nesting configuration with a single-cup, dual-cup or three-cup beverage container holder, respectively. Similarly, the four-cup beverage container holder can be utilized to carry four beverage containers. The handle of each single-cup, dual-cup, three-cup and four-cup beverage container holder is typically characterized by multiple, longitudinal, internal and external handle serrations which interlock with the handle serrations of one or more additional beverage container holders in handle-nesting configuration, to facilitate non-rotatable handle-nesting of the beverage container holders in selected stored or functional configurations. In another embodiment, a dual tray characterized by a pair of typically, recessed and/or planar tray surfaces which extend from a common, internally and externally serrated handle for receiving a plate or plates of food can be used alone for carrying food, or in selected nested combinations with one or more of the beverage container holders for carrying both food and a selected number of beverage-filled containers.